The Centre has notified the appointment of justices Rajesh Bindal and Aravind Kumar as judges of the Supreme Court.
With their appointments, the Supreme Court will have a full working strength of 34 judges. Justice Bindal is the Chief Justice of Allahabad High Court and Justice Kumar is the Chief Justice Gujarat High Court.
This morning, Law Minister Kiren Rijiju, in a tweet, said: "As per the provisions under the Constitution of India, Hon'ble President of India has appointed the following Chief Justices of High Courts as Judges of the Supreme Court. My best to them. 1.Rajesh Bindal, Chief Justice, Allahabad HC. 2.Aravind Kumar, Chief Justice, Gujarat HC".
The collegium's resolution published on the apex court website, on January 31, said: "After carefully evaluating the merit, integrity and competence of eligible Chief Justices and senior puisne Judges of the High Courts and also accommodating a plurality of considerations, the Collegium finds the following persons to be more deserving and suitable in all respects for being appointed as Judges of the Supreme Court of India: Justice Rajesh Bindal, Chief Justice, High Court of Judicature at Allahabad, (PHC: Punjab & Haryana), and Justice Aravind Kumar, Chief Justice, High Court of Gujarat, (PHC: Karnataka)".
The collegium is headed by Chief Justice D.Y. Chandrachud and comprises justices Sanjay Kishan Kaul, K.M. Joseph, M.R. Shah, Ajay Rastogi, and Sanjiv Khanna.